ladyconsumer's Full Review: Lisa Scottoline - Courting Trouble
Lisa Scottoline gives us Courting Trouble, a story that's supposed to be part thriller, part courtroom drama. But the main character is so silly, stupid, and unlikable that I could not feel invested in her problems.
It's true that Anne Murphy has a real problem on her hands - she wakes one day to see her name splashed on the front page of the newspaper, alongside an article detailing her murder! Yes, it seems that as far as everyone else is concerned, Anne is dead. Anne is the only person in the world who knows that it was actually her house-sitter, Willa, who was killed. So, of course Anne calls the police to straighten out the misunderstanding, and lets her family and co-workers know that she's really alive, right? Nope. Anne decides to keep it to herself. Because she's convinced she knows exactly who killed Willa. And, if the murderer figures out that Anne is still alive, her life will still be in danger.
I suppose there's some truth to her fears, yet I still think she should have gone right to the police. I do believe they'd be in a decent position to catch the murderer, and protect Anne. Instead, Anne ends up confiding in some of her co-workers, and together, the four women set out to catch the murderer.
The problem is that the four women share one brain, if that much. Mostly, Anne comes up with wacky ideas to try to trap the killer, and the other women go along with her. The antics they come up with are so ridiculous, it's a wonder any of them survive.
Anne's dumb ideas aren't the only reason I dislike her. A difficult childhood has left her with a chip on her shoulder the size of a boulder. She has every episode of I Love Lucy memorized, and compares every incident in her life with a specific scene in a specific episode. This might have been cute the first time or two it was done, but after that it was nothing short of annoying. Worse, you know those expressions that people use "note to self:" or "mental note:" followed by some cutesy directive to themselves that's supposed to make them better prepared for all life throws at them? Well, Anne makes "mental notes" to herself constantly. I lost count how many times she makes these mental notes to herself. But after the first 10 or so times, I really found them annoying. Perhaps someone needs to tell Ms. Scottoline that these types of behaviors are cute. For the first two times they're used. After that, they're just ridiculous.
So, we have a character I hate, who's making dumb decisions all over the place. Here's one for you: if you were presumed dead, and wanted to stay that way, would you drive around in the car you rented? I wouldn't. Anne does. Would you answer your cell phone, without first checking the caller ID? I wouldn't. Anne does. That one I really couldn't believe. They actually made a point of mentioning that she couldn't read the screen to see who was calling, yet she answers it anyway. That is DUMB!!!
Finally, there's a romantic aspect in this book that makes absolutely no sense at all. On so many levels, this pairing is just wrong.
With all of this nonsense going on, I found it hard to care about the main story, that of trying to find the killer, and bring him to justice before he finds out Anne's alive. I was more interested in the secondary story, that of the big trial that Anne's defending in three days. That's right, in three days she has to come out of hiding, if she's going to finish working on this case. The details that emerge about the players in this trial were interesting, and I admit wanting to know how it all worked out.
Overall, I can not recommend this book. The main character was just too unlikable, and the plot too ridiculous. I'd say read it, but only if you're stuck on a long flight, and it's the only book available to you. Otherwise, avoid it.
In order to escape a relentless, homicidal stalker, beautiful Anne Murphy pretends to be dead and enlists the help of the lovely lady lawyers of Rosat...More at Alibris
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